How to use Places (formerly Geo-Services)

Places (formerly called Geo-Services) is a feature available with your TELUS SmartHome Security System that allows you to be more connected to your home. With a Geo-Device enabled, you can automate home settings and initiate additional notifications based on the location of your iPhone or Android phone relative to your home, office or any other Geo-Fence set up.

You can enable Places through your TELUS SmartHome app on your mobile phone by following the instructions below:

1. Log in to the TELUS SmartHome app
2. Tap Menu (three lines) at the top left hand corner of the screen
3. Tap Places
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to Get Started
   
5. If asked, tap Enable to turn on Location Services
   
6. Places is now enabled for the device and appears as a Geo-Device on the web portal

Important: If unable to toggle Location Services on, you may need to enable Location settings for the SmartHome app in your phone settings.

Once a Geo-Device is set up, a Geo-Fence is created. A Geo-Fence is a virtual geographic boundary used for Places and lets you create location-based alerts and rules. To create or adjust Geo-Fences, follow the instructions below:

1. Log in to the TELUS SmartHome app
2. Tap Menu (three lines) at the top left hand corner of the screen
3. Tap Places
4. To edit a Place, select the name of the Place to edit under Places
5. To add a new Place, select + Add Place
6. To move the fence location, either tap and drag the location marker on the map, or enter a specific address (including postal code) in the Enter a full address field
   Note: The center of the fence defaults to your address
7. In the Name field, enter a name for the Place
8. To adjust the radius, enter the desired radius in the Radius field (minimium 1.5 km)
   Note: The radius defaults to the minimum fence size. The minimum Geo-Fence radius is 1.5 kilometers, and the maximum is 150 kilometers.
9. Select Save

See below for an example of the Places page.

Once you enable a Geo-Device, you can configure desired Geo-Service rules or notifications.

1. Log in to the web portal
2. Select Settings
3. Select Places
4. In Set up Rules & Reminders, you will find a list of notification reminders and rules available for you to create. Click to select the rule or reminder to create it

To delete a Geo-Device using the web portal, follow the instructions below:

1. Log in to the web portal
2. Select Settings
3. Select Places
4. Select the Geo-Device to be deleted
5. Select the trash icon
6. Select Ok

To delete a Geo-Device using the TELUS SmartHome app, follow the instructions below:

1. Log in to the TELUS SmartHome app
2. Tap Menu (three lines) at the top left hand corner of the screen
3. Tap Places
4. Tap Manage my location settings below the list of Places
5. Toggle switch to the left position and tap OK to confirm

Best practices and reminders:

• The lower the data connection and/or coverage in the area, the less accurate Places is. The reverse is true as well
• Staying close to the Geo-Fence, or only barely crossing it can mean that the device never triangulates outside of the Geo-Fence. This can cause notifications or actions to incorrectly trigger or not trigger at all
• Increasing the Geo-Fence radius can help provide more accurate notifications based on location
• Wi-Fi can be used as a data connection for triangulation. The device does not need to be connected for triangulation to occur
• The more accurate Geo-Fence radius sizes are around or larger than 3 to 4 kilometers radius. The minimum radius can be 1.5 kilometers but is not recommended

Troubleshooting tips:

1. Verify Geo-Services is set up properly
   Verify you have the feature enabled and notifications setup properly.

2. Verify location services is turned on
   Verify your location services are turned on for both your mobile device and the TELUS SmartHome app.
   Note: iPhones and Android phones also require location services to be turned on specifically for the app through phone settings.

3. Verify the correct device is enabled for Geo-Services
   You can verify if the correct mobile device is enabled by turning Location Services off in the app. Next, log in to the web portal to verify if the correlating device is paused (if it is, it will be grayed out). Once you verify the correct device, make sure to re-enable the Location Services after.

4. Increase the Geo-Fence size
   Increase the fence size to a minimum of 3 to 4 kilometer radius. If it is already set to a 4 kilometer radius, increase the Geo-Fence radius to 8 kilometers.

5. Enable Wi-Fi on the Geo-Device
   Enable Wi-Fi on the phone that is a Geo-Device on the account. This may help with triangulation if there are not many towers in that area. Turning on Bluetooth can also help.
   Note: The Geo-Device is not required to be connected to a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth network to function.

If your Geo-Services issue is still unresolved, perform the following steps in this order:

1. Disable Location Services in the TELUS SmartHome app
2. Delete the Geo-Device on the web portal
3. Force close the TELUS SmartHome app
4. Re-enable Location Services in the TELUS SmartHome app
5. Add the device back to the Geo-Fence rules or notifications
6. Sync the Geo-Device by crossing in and out of the Geo-Fence
7. Test by crossing the fence again

Note: Location Services uses triangulation to conserve battery power. The device should pass a significant distance over the geo-fence in either direction to register crossing the geo-fence.